In the wake of global boiling, Pakistan has little option but to change its course towards countering climate-induced disasters, rising electricity costs, and unsustainable construction practices. The term has gained alarming validation in the past few months after being mentioned by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who stated, “The era of global warming has ended. The era of global boiling has arrived.” July 2023 became the hottest month in the past 120,000 years.

As temperatures rise, it will be almost impossible for countries to meet the energy demands of their people, especially when they rely on a culture of energy-guzzling unsustainability.

Recently, Kuwait announced temporary power cuts in some parts of the country during peak consumption hours, saying it is struggling to meet increased demand spurred by extreme summer heat. In a statement on Wednesday, Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water, and Renewable Energy said the scheduled cuts would occur for up to two hours a day, marking the first such step for the OPEC member state as climate change causes temperatures to rise.

This year’s Haj turned tragic as over 1,300 pilgrims succumbed to soaring temperatures, which reached a blistering 51.8 degrees Celsius. The deadly heatwave in Saudi Arabia is part of a broader trend of unprecedented heat affecting regions worldwide. Earlier this month, Pakistan and India faced similar extreme conditions. In Sindh, temperatures skyrocketed to over 52°C, with Mohenjodaro experiencing 52.2°C, nearly matching the country’s record high of 54°C. Floods wreaked havoc, resulting in deaths in the UAE and Oman, where 10 children died when their school bus was swept away. Over 1,000 flights at Dubai’s airport, one of the world’s busiest, were cancelled, causing significant travel disruptions.

Similarly, southern China faced severe flooding in Guangdong province, displacing over 100,000 people. Meanwhile, northern China battled prolonged droughts and heatwaves, highlighting the varied and devastating impacts of climate change across the country. Pakistan should stop burying its head in the sand like an ostrich and learn from OPEC member states like Kuwait, which are optimizing the use of electricity and incentivizing renewable energy resources.

For Pakistan, it means a greater energy crisis, rising electricity bills, more frequent floods, heat strokes, larger interruptions in school days, and more energy requirements to control indoor temperatures. All of this needs thoughtful planning for a systematic approach to prevent, adapt, and mitigate the menace of climate change. Failing to act in the right direction at the right time can take us from the frying pan to the frying plains in this case.

Daunting as it may sound, the existential threat can only be addressed if we confront the matter head-on. There is a dire need in metropolitan cities to shift from conventional concrete structures to more sustainable materials. In cities like Lahore, green retrofitting should be adopted, which means transforming buildings to net-zero, i.e., buildings that do not add gases to the atmosphere, which results in rising temperatures. This can be done by providing green roofs to the buildings, installing solar panels, using water more efficiently, and reducing the production of waste materials. The construction industry can pay huge dividends if local practices are analyzed through the lens of climate change.

Additionally, there is a dire need to adopt energy-efficient designs for residential buildings. Our houses feel like ovens in summer and refrigerators in winter. Consequently, we need to use continuous electricity to make them comfortable. I once came across a video of some politicians using chillers in their open lawns! The video is still available on YouTube! The business community is also not ready to adopt any measures to save electricity. A single shop in a cloth market in Lahore will have hundreds of energy-consuming bulbs, fans, and air conditioners. We are fast running out of time to make amends!

How we write our story of climate change is still in our own hands—but the clock is ticking!

Muhammad Ali Falak
The writer is a Fulbright alumnus working on climate change. He can be reached at mafalak@yahoo.com